1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a bird feeder and, more particularly, to a bird feeder that can be used to feed multiple types of seeds simultaneously.
2. Background of the Invention
Typical wild bird sunflower seed feeders fall into two broad categories. The first category includes bulk or “free choice” feeders that simply have the seeds freely available to the birds in an open display. The second category uses a wire mesh through which the birds must pull the seeds.
Both categories of these bird feeders have shortcomings. Bird feeders of the first categories do not mimic natural feeding (a “hunt and seek” activity) that is desired by wild birds. Another shortcoming of these feeders is that they allow seeds to become water saturated in rain.
Wild birds appear to prefer the second categories of bird feeders partly because the wire mesh provides a more natural “hunt and seek” feeding method. Nonetheless, these mesh feeders are limited to feeding only one type of sunflower seeds. This is because the two major types of sunflower seeds used in wild bird feeding differ radically in size. The gray striped seeds can be nearly twice the size of the black oil seeds. Thus, a wire mesh that is suitable for the larger gray striped seeds would allow the smaller black oil seeds to slip through freely, resulting in much loss of seeds. Smaller wire mesh, on the other hand, would hold the black oil seeds but would not allow the majority of the gray striped seeds to pass through at all. Furthermore, all wire mesh feeders suffer from severe exposure of the seeds to rain, which causes spoilage of the seeds.
Accordingly, there is a need for a bird feeder that can be used to feed both the larger gray striped seeds and the smaller black oil seeds simultaneously.